F128 
.67 
.R6 T8 



SECL'NJ COPY. 
1699. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

ChapHi.! Copyright No. 



^ll(!lf. 



.4 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



APR £0 !?39 



RIVERSIDE DRIVE 



COMPILED BY 

CLARENCE TRUE Aro 

4^0 BOULEVARD, 
NHW YORK. 



PRESS OF 
XEW 



3()(U2 



(^ APHSJ?16ii3 








RIVERSIDE DRIVE. 

HEN Henr\- Hudson sailed, in the "Halt Moon, "' 
up the broad and beautitul river which bears 
his name— on the morning of Sept. 14th, 1(109— the 
shores of both bays and rivers were so heavily v^'ooded 
that much of the general contour of the land v^as hidden. 

The ground was higher in some places than in others— so much could 
be seen at a glance— but not until the "Half Moon,"" beating up-stream on 
the flood tide against a hea\'y head wind, reached a point opposite what is 
now the foot of West ".4th Street, did the keen-eyed navigator begin to notice 
the marked preciptiousness of the banks on liis right. This gradually in- 
creased until a mile or two further up-stream, the waving tree-tops upon the 
crest of the rockx- bluffs were Lipwards of two hundred feet abo\'e his head — 
while up(jn the opposite side of the river a solid wall of rock, towering above 
even this altitude, stretched a\va\- as far as the e.\e could reach. 

Familiar as he was— from wandering all over the known world of those 



days — with the iiiediaevcl custom of erectin.u baronial castles upon the rLiu<ied 
crags which overhun.u maii>- of the I'uropeau rivers, it is easy to imagine 
the look of pleased anticipation with which his eyes rested upon these cool, 
delightfully picturesque and commaiuiing heights, as he noted each one and 
determined upon building new homes tor himself and his fellow \'()\-agers 
when the immediate business of disco\er_\- and exploration should 
be over with for a tinie. 

This dream of i^oor Hudson's, however — a dream 
which haunted liiiu through the long, bitter da\s 
I when he and his eight compianious were adritt and 
"' slowl\- tree/ing to death in Hudson's Ba\ a \ear 
later — was destiiu'el to be reali/x'd b\ others, and 
onl\- after a lapise of o\er two centuries. 
Repre.sentati\-es of the Dutch Hast India Companx followed m his foot- 
steps, as a matter of course ;iiul t'stablishcd the little tradiim post of Niew 
Amsterdam, But until the\ m turn ga\e place to the Huglish, along about 
luu.l, their settlement hardl\- exttauled be\-oiul the uoitherl\ limit ol' Bouerie 





I,:ine and the few scattered houses <>n Breukelen Heights. 

With the Fnuiish colonization, and as a resnit of that 
far-reachin.u' polic\- which Governor Nicholls inanunrated 
for his patron, the Duke of York (afterward James Ih, 
tliere came a c|-ian,u"e— a city of rising' importance - « 

soon entirel\' overshadowed the little Dutch trailinu" 
post— the sturd_\' \-oLin,u- city of New York. Subtantial 

houses were erected in the vicinit\' of the Fort— around what had been the 
old BowlniK (jreen of the Dutch Buruhers— and upon Qrieen street, later 
kn(.)wn as Pearl street. In course of time, prominent citizens be^an to build 
suburban homes alonii,' the post road wliich led t<» the north and east of 
the citw and upon neiuhborinu shores across the rivers. And when the 
conditions of life assumed stabilitw under wise colonial uoxernment, home- 
steads were purchased, here and there, throuuhout the upper [Portion of 
Manhattan Island. 

The estates were lar^e ones — and the nianor houses which ilominated 
them were often in spots completeK' isolated hv dense belts of natural forest. 




iK'iiiiiK'd ill b\- rock)- hills, or hidden iindiT bliiris 

by thf ri\t,T b;inks. 

As time p;issc'd, tlu- ni;iiii pust rojd to Boston had 
_ worn lor itself a track alonu the present lines of Park 

Row — then ealleil Dixision street Bo\\er\- and Broad\\a\' to 
Madison Sciiiare site, where it took an abniiit turn toward Third Axeiuie, 
skirtinu the mound known as Inclenberu— now Murra\- Ftill— crossinu the 
northeast e(»rner of (Central Park, down thronuh McCjowans Pass where it 
forked, the ri^ht branch crossmu the Harlem Rwvr and bearing a\va\- through 
Connecticut, and the left skirtnm the loot of Harlem Heights straight north 
to Kin.usbridue. 

Wliere the Boston road turned off toward Third Axenue at what is now 
Madison S(.|uare. anollua- branch ,uradnall\- took root and pushed its wa\- in a 
northwesterl\' direction dollowmu the present line of Broadwa>- and the 
Boulevartl until it accommodated those of the counti\-lo\inu- citizens who 
had been casting their e\es lonuin,ui\- toward the beautiful heights oN'erlook- 
uMi the Hudson, on the upper ed.ue of the Island, and ended at the Hoauiand 






f .-^"^"^ 







IKW MiOM 74111 




1 



ifiTii >ti(i;ki 



estate which, with Vanderwater manor, covered the Proniontor\- that walls 
the i2nth Street valley of to-day. The district throiiuh which this new road 
passed became known as Bloomingdale. giving its name to the turnpike itself^ 
and was, from the settlement of the tirst estate, the 
most fashionable suburb of the city. 

Among the more prominent manor houses on 
the Bloomingdale cliffs were those of the Apthorpe. 
Del.ancey, Livingston, Str\ker, Jones and Pollock 
estates, two of which were erected as earl\- as the 
middle of the eighteenth centurw The DeLance} 
house stood at a point now marked by the corner of 
8(ith street and Riverside Dri\e until No\ember, 1777. 
when it was burned during an exceedingl\- cold night by the .Americans in 
retaliation for certain acts of the British — the ladies of the house escaping 
in their night clothing, and one of them e\en being forced to hide in a 
stone dog kennel until assistance could be procured b\' her sisters. The 
house of Mr. Leopold Hidlitz now occupies" almost the exact site. 





w, - 



About 1774. Charles Ward Apthorpc built liis 
home at what is U(»\v the iutersectiou of C^oluui- 
bus a\'eiiue and uist street— or perhaps two 
hundred feet west of this — and during his residence 
there, entertained nearlx' e\er\- celebrilx who eanie to the eitw h was 
here that Washington and Nathan Hale planned the hitter's memorable ex- 
pedition. Saturda\- niuhl, Sept. 14th. 17711— here, where Washington directed 
the American retreat from New York, and Where Cienerals (dinton anil Howe 
rested while bo\ ish Aaron Burr was leading the column of refugees and 
soUliers. throu-ii b\-wa\s. uiillies and tan-ied uuelerbrush— almost under the 
British noses— alonu the BloominuLlale-Rnerside cliffs to the encampment on 
Harlem Hei.uhts, now known as 1-orl Washington. 

judue Brockholst lavinuston— son of (^,o\-eriior ^^„^, J:^?^^^ 

William i.ivin.uston of [jbert\- Hall, N. J., and .•..^'»ni^.r'?-^T\ 

brother-m-law of Chief lustice John |a\— bought a i^l^BS'JYirr^.l'' ' 



po 



n of the Apthorpe b'slate on the n\v\- bank, and ii 
built a mansion which t'xisted as a i^rom 



laiu 




nuirk (ooth street corner 
\v;is deiiiDlislied to make 



u.is i^ieiiioiisneu lo iiKiKe Ar^ i, 

ot Mr. Joiiii M;ittlie\vs, , Jf 0^ j .j 

dwellinus of t()-d;i\-. ■•'^'igp'^ .*^ 




Va Riverside Drixe ) until it 
Jj^-' room tor tlie residence 
one of the lundsoniest 
For nian\- \ears. the 
l.ixinuston house was - 1 " ' occupied by Mr. Cx'rus 

Clark who has been, from its earliest development, closel\- identified with 
the Rix'erside district, and who built a uraiul house on the opposite corner. 

hi 1702, a small estate near the present site of (".rants Tomb, was owned 
b\- Carlile i^)llock, the -raxe of whose little box', xvith its headstone: ■■To 
the niemorx- of an amiable child," still exists in the shadoxx' of that greater 
mausoleum toxxartl xxhich the exes of the xvorld so often turn. The old 
Strxker house stood near the foot of W. U2d street at Strxkers Bax'. xxhere. 
sex'eral xears a.^o. (jmimander Corrinue landed the Ivuxptian ( )belisk from 
the S. S. Dessoii.u' on its xvax' to CAMitral Park. The buildiim iioxv knoxvn as 
■"Claremont '■ was purchased earlx' in the ceiilurx' b\- Dr. I'ost. as a country 
residence— and in \S\^ was occupied bx' Joseph Bonaparte, the e\-kinu of 
Spain. It was near Claremont that Col. Knoxxiton climbed the bank to attack 



^ General Leslie's hiuiilanders in the skirmish whicli 

I led to the ensuiiiK battle of Harlem Heights. 

Alter the stirrin.u days of the Revolution and 1S12, 
came the peaceful building of a nation— a time so bur- 
dened with national .urowth. so alive vv'ith the birth of new towns, states 
and events that the Bloomindale corner of the world drifted into an oblivion 
of grass covered estates— aged honorable, but nexertheless deca\ing old 
houses— a dying race of earlv settlers. Southward, the hum and roar of a 
mighty city grew louder each week—each month- each year. On the 
bank, the sound of human \'oices, the lowing of cattle, gave way to 
rustle of tangled x'ines — the whisper of falling leaves 

Then, after many years, the stillness hovering 
o\'er these peaceful heights was broken by vaga- 
bond swarms of the cit>''s camp followers. The 
squatters — and their goats. 

The nation grew— the cit\' of New York 
bfcame the third metropolis of the world — the 



iver 
the 




Athmtii. ;iiul Pacillc occiins were united b\- ukMmiiiu tlire;uls of steel, before 
\hv business mnui of M;inli:it1;in m;isix'ci tlie ide;i that the eoi-poiJtinii h;ul 
wilhm Its own pieeinels, the most innunilicenl site \ et unappropriated on 
eartli loi IJu- builiiinu of homes and jxhaees. But eventiiallx tlieiv eanie a 
ehanut. — and it was a ma^ieal one. 

'I'he idea of conx'ertinu this Rixerside belt ol preeiiiiee int^ 
park orfuinated ni a little f)rt\-niin' pa-e pamphlet, publisl 
William K. Martin. Thru, the uroiiudwork of Central Park f 
WAV about that time. .Andrew hi. C.reen ,ua\e his atteiitio 
to the inattta-. introdueinu a bill in the l.euislature of iSik 
Alter the authorized reports upon the undertaking had 
been submitted, the bill became a law April 24th, iSny- 
and in 1S72 the properlx' was all acquired, the total land 
value beinu assessed at So. 174. 120.80. ,S". 10.1,470 ol 
which was leviett on adiactait pro|X'rt\'. In 1S77, 
the contract was awarded to Nicholas H. Decker- ■'^ _ 

and the work progressed more and more fa\drabl\ 

.mm 




^Hft^K- 


|p||y- 0km j^ 




as public" attfiition became directed to the localitw 
About 1870. a series of editorials in the New York 
Herald upon the obvious attractions of this district, 
which had been for so many years overlooked, 
awakened the interest of William M. Tweed— at 
that time Cj)mmissioner of Public Works. The 
-:r— =,5^,^^ AmericLis Club surroundings at Greenwich. Conn., 
had stren.uthened his appreciation of combined land and water features in a 
residence locality to such an extent that, with Peter B. Sweenev. he pur- 
chased several lots in the Riverside neighborhood. And shortl>' afterward, 
his connection with the development of upper New York Cit\' resulted in the 
mapping <'ut of the Bouleward — indirectl>' giving a strong impetus to the 
beautiful dri\e alonu' the ri\er front. 

The Park Department, under Mr. Green, had shown itself so capable 
of dealing with great public tasks as to be intrusted b\- the Legislature with 
functions far bexond its original scope—the 'lax-ing out of new cit\' streets — 
the demarcation of bulkhead and pier lines, etc.. — and through its successful 



iUi 



ext-rcisc of these privile,<2:es, the P;irk Board of to-da\ is en- 
abled to innueiice le,uislati(tn toward the eoiideiiinatioii of all 
piers or \vhar\es alon,u- the Uiliire Ri\erside I'ark tYoiit as well 
as to acquire eoiitrol o\ei- those iiow in existence. This 
will render the I'ark secure from conimerciai encroachment 
to the end of time. 

Stran,uel\- enou.u'h, the later de\elopment of Rixerside beuan at its 
northerix- end. The pioneer m tins line was Ckau'ral Hubert L. \'iele, who 
built the lirst handsome modern residence at the corner of SSth street, and 
who. with iVlr. Cxrus Clark did much toward clearing the i>ropert\- of squat- 
ters, securing le.uislation fir the .uradinu of streets. pa\in,u and ,uenerall>- im- 
proviuM' the localit.w l^ut f )r some \ears the beauties of the l)ri\e were not 
thoroughly appreciated, and this lack of public interest seemed likelx' to exert 
a deterioratinu' inlluence upon the entire park\\a>- especiallx' the stretch from 
79th to Soth streets, which was apparcaitlx' pre-ileslined to •■naf architecture 
when tln' \arious pro|uat\ owners should consider the time y\pc for such im- 
provement. Had this polic\ Ix'cn carried out. it could scarcelx have failed in 
depreciating propert\ throughout the caitire section. 



About this time, however. Mr. Clarence True, who had erected liouses 
upon some of the lower lots, became so thorou,ii,iil\- impressed with the 
possibilities of the river-front as a residence district that he secured all the 
available propertx' south of 84th street, and b\- covering it with beautiful 
dwellings, insured a most promisin.n,- future for the Drive. 

So, to-da\-. Riverside Dri\'e, with its branchin.u' side streets, is the most 
ideal home-site ni the western hemisphere — the Acropolis of the worlds 
second city. On the rockw urass-covered promontorx' which seemed so at- 
tractive to Hendrik Hudson from the deck of the "Half Moon" below, there 
stands a white granite monument to one of nature's noblemen — "the man ( 
peace." On another promontorv known as Mt. Tom. near dird street, wi 
shortl>- be erected a uraceful shaft to the soldiers and sailers of the ci\'il wai 
Between the two, the domes of Columbia College and St. Luke's Hospit; 
loom acros the sk\- line — and the ^reat spire of St. John the Dixine will soo 
join them. From Claremont a \aaduct is to be e.xtended to Washington Hei,u■ht^ 
making the rix'er drix'e of seven consecutix'e miles the most beautiful in the 
known woild. clarence Herbert new. 




KET, l.OOKINC NORTH — Ml. TOM AT 





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*!y*^'?ffi''i 'e""?r?':'!5Sl, 



S. K. ClIRNKR or SoTH STRKKT AND RIVKKSinF, IIKIV 




S. (■;. CoUNEU ol- S3D StUEEt AND knEUSIDH bRlv£. 










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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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